In recent years, an increasing number of passenger cars, such as sedans, are equipped with such apparatuses that permit a part of a seat back of the vehicle rear seat to be reclined forward or folded down on its seat cushion, to provide extended cargo room. More specifically, the seat back includes a forward foldable portion which can be reclined from the upright position to the folded position in which the vehicle compartment and the trunk room communicate with each other, to enable one in the vehicle compartment to put cargo into or take it out of the trunk room.
In the above apparatus, the forward foldable portion is allowed to lean forward to the folded position relative to the rest of the seat back. The apparatus is also provided with a lock device for locking or holding the forward foldable portion in the upright position. By releasing the lock device from the side of the vehicle compartment or trunk room, the forward foldable portion can be reclined forward or folded down on the seat cushion, so that the vehicle compartment communicates with the trunk room. In the known apparatus, however, the lock device can be normally released from only one side of the vehicle compartment and the trunk room, which is inconvenient when one wishes to release the lock device from the other side. Thus, it has been desired to enable the lock device to be released from both sides of the vehicle compartment and the trunk room.
In view of the above problem, there have been proposed rear seat structures of so-called trunk-through type, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publications No. 64-37740 and No. 1-102033.
With regard to the seat structure as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 64-37740, a recessed portion is formed in the side face of the base portion of the seat back, so as to extend through the seat back to the front and back thereof, and an operating lever for reclining the seat back forward to the folded position is provided in the recessed portion such that the lever can be operated from the front and back sides of the seat back. With this arrangement, the seat back can be reclined forward to the folded position, or held in the upright position.
With regard to the seat structure as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-102033, a lock device is provided for causing an engaging member on the side of the seat back to engage with an engaging member on the side of the vehicle body, so as to prevent the seat back from leaning forward, and an operating mechanism is provided for moving the engaging member of the seat back in the direction opposite to the engaging direction, so as to allow the seat back to be reclined forward to the folded position. Also, a stopper mechanism that is engageable with the operating mechanism is provided for inhibiting the operating mechanism from moving the engaging member of the seat back in the releasing direction, and one on the side of the trunk room is able to operate the stopper mechanism for engagement with or release from the operating mechanism. Furthermore, a release mechanism is provided for moving the operating mechanism in the direction for releasing the engagement of the engaging member on the side of the seat back with the engaging member on the side of the vehicle body when the stopper mechanism and operating mechanism are placed in the released state.
In the seat structure as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 64-37740 as described above, the recessed portion is formed in the side face of the base portion of the seat back so as to extend through the seat back to the front and back thereof, and the operating lever mounted in the recessed portion may be operated from both sides of the vehicle compartment and trunk room, so that the seat back can be reclined forward to the folded position. In this arrangement, however, the operating lever mounted in the recessed portion formed in the seat back is always exposed to the vehicle compartment and trunk room, and thus deteriorates the appearance of the seat. Also, the rear seat structure is generally provided with a theft proof lock device that makes it impossible to operate the operating lever from the side of the vehicle compartment, thus permitting the operating lever to be operated only from the side of the trunk room. In the seat structure as disclosed in this publication, however, such a theft proof lock device cannot be installed.
In the seat structure as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-102033 as described above, the lock device is released by operating the operating mechanism from the inside of the vehicle compartment, so as to permit the seat back to be reclined forward to the folded position, while the stopper mechanism is engaged with or released from the operating mechanism by operating the releasing mechanism from the inside of the trunk room, thus permitting the seat back to be reclined forward to the folded position through the operating mechanism when it is released from the stopper mechanism. Thus, the seat back can be reclined forward to the folded position by operating the operating mechanism from both sides of the vehicle compartment and the trunk room, and the stopper mechanism serves as a theftproof lock device. In the presence of the theft proof lock device, however, the operating mechanism, stopper mechanism, and the releasing mechanism must be appropriately associated or linked with each other, which results in a complicated structure and increased cost for components.